Jason DuMars profile picture

Jason DuMars

Improvisation, passion, nature, mystery

About Me

Visit my multimedia page to download lots of MP3s, videos and pictures!

I've been playing saxophone for a long time but have always been uncomfortable with its "traditional" role in music. I've often joked that I was a lead guitarist trapped in a saxophonist's body, since my musical tastes often lean more toward progressive rock and highly emotive jazz than strict bebop. I've been fortunate to perform with some of the best musical minds of our time, and I always welcome new collaborations.My musical resume includes dozens of music festivals, from the Seattle Improvised Music Festival to the Portland International Music Festival. I've performed all over, including several shows at the Knitting Factory in New York.I just moved to Nashville in search of a different life, and am now settled enough to begin looking for musical co-conspiritors.In my spare time, I am a musical instrument engraver , specializing in super-ornate projects that echo the great Conn and King engravers of the 20s and 30s. I am the author of the world's first and most popular saxophone web site, www.saxophone.org, and have written many scholarly publications on the instrument and its rich history.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/5/2006
Band Website: JasonDuMars.com
Band Members: Jason DuMars: soprano, alto and tenor sax, acordion, flute, clarinet, recorder, bowed psaltery, electronics, drums, guitar, bass, piano, marxophone, baglama saz, gu zheng, percussion, vocals, arranging, composing, improvising, destroying
Influences: Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Beck, Devendra Banhart, Sufjan Stevens, the Books, Iron &; Wine, Radiohead, Bjork, Nina Nastasia, Robert Johnson, Fred Frith, Volapuk, Kampec Dolores, Alamaailman Vasarat, Bob Drake, Cassiber, Amy Denio, Hail, 5uu's, Thinking Plague, Guy Klucevsek, Henry Cow, Iva Bittova, Kampec Dolores, Present, Univers Zero, Science Group, Aksak Maboul, Gentle Giant, Thomas Chapin, T.S. Monk, Cannonball, Art Blakey &; the Jazz Messengers, Dolphy, Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Herbie Nichols, Herbie Hancock, Mingus, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, John Zorn, Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd, Mario Pavone, Ellery Eskelin, Ned Rothenberg, Chris Potter, Chris Speed, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Dave Douglas, Dave Brubeck, Dave Holland, David Berkman, David Murray, David Liebman, David Valdez, Don Ellis, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Francois Houle, Benoit Delbecq, Marc Copland, Fred Hersch, Gianluigi Trovesi, Carlos Actis Dato, William Parker, Joe Lovano, Julius Hemphill, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Garrett, Lennie Tristano, Tim Price, Tim Berne, Marilyn Crispell, Matthew Shipp, McCoy Tyner, Muhal Richard Abrams, Eric Friedlander, Don Cherry, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Steve Lacy, Louis Sclavis, Andrew Hill, Peter Brötzmann, Anouar Brahem, Ben Allison, Brad Mehldau, Daniel Carter WORLD: Lots of Balkan stuff- Taraf de Haidouks, Kalman Balogh, Yuri Yunakov, Kocani Orkestar, Boban Marcovic Orkestar, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, Besh O Drom, Taraf de Metropulito, Slavic Soul Party!, Terem Quartet, Taraf Borzo, Petros Tabouris, Muszikas. also: Madjid Khaladj, Master Musicians of Joujouka, Nasibov Edalat, Abida Parween, Hassan Hakmoun, Djivan Gasparyan, Ensemble al Kindi, Keyvan Chemirani, Ottoman Classical Music, Flamenco, North Indian Classical, qawwalis, ghazals, Moosiqi Asil, klezmer, Ottoman Classical Music... THE MUSIC OF: the Ba-Benzele &; Ituri Pygmies, Laos, Vietnam (esp. ca tru), Albanian Kosovars, Cambodia, Burma, Kmhmu Highlanders, Japan (the Ainu people, Gagaku), the Balkan Peninsula, Burma (harp), Indonesia, Java (Court Gamelan Music), Morocco (Gharnati, Gnawa, Chaabi), Mongolia (tuvan throat singing), Peru, Rajasthan, China (gu Zheng, Pipa), Shona (Mbira), Armenia (duduk), Bhutan, Tibet (buddhist chant), Turkey, Uzbekistan... Khatchaturian, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, Kalevi Aho, Rautavaara, Kancheli, Lou Harrison, Messiaen, Mahler, Bruckner, Sibelius, Paganini, Bach, Arvo Part, Gorecki, Xenakis, Piazzola, Vivaldi, Rachmaninov, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Satie, Schnittke, Glass, Enescu, Scriabin, Vasks, Bloch, Janacek, Hindemith, Bereketis, Britten, Cage, Chopin, Liszt, Shoenberg, Ligeti, Berio, Ravel, Reich, Riley, Respighi, Webern, Dvorak, Glazunov, Golijov, Gubaidulina, Rota, Hovhaness
Sounds Like: My saxophone playing lies somewhere between John Zorn and Paul Desmond, everything else is like a pot of musical gumbo.
Type of Label: None

My Blog

New recording

New from the DuSuttFordWHAT...http://audionrecording.com/media/what.wmaTh is was a trial recording made at John's Audion Recording studio which I think went great!It's Rob's tune "What's it matter?"Per...
Posted by Jason DuMars on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:31:00 PST

10 new songs available for free download!

I just completed updating my music page with 10 new songs, including brand new sketches from my album-in-progress, and some older recordings made with Douglas Theriault on guitar. Check them out ...
Posted by Jason DuMars on Sat, 08 Jul 2006 10:23:00 PST

video.... Jason DuMars Trio

Check out this video from PJJ-TV: The Jason DuMars Trio -- Live & 100% improvised This was part of the PortlandJazzJams.com project, which I am on the board of directors for.  The site and th...
Posted by Jason DuMars on Sat, 20 May 2006 01:02:00 PST